Headphone Amplification

One of these just came and went on Agon for $845. Looks like a whole lot of happiness for the money. Anyone know anything about the builder? 807 Tube Stereo Amplifier

silvercore - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio Looks pretty beastly but it's probably too expensive to really be interesting for me.

My mother in law wants headphone amp recommendations to incorporate into her speaker rig, and, having never had the opportunity to A/B different head amps (one of these days I must travel to a meet...), I'd like to hear what advice head-casers suggest I give her. Present Gear CD transport: Esoteric P-10 DAC: Esoteric D-10 Headphones: currently HD555s, but likely to upgrade to HD600s or HD650s. I'd like to keep things solid state because I visit frequently with a toddler (plus one more on the way), and her stereo rack is within his reach. I'm not a fan of her speaker rig's sound, but I suspect that's likely due to speaker placement more than anything else (spe…

I just received the TTVJ FET-A from Todd for a loaner session. It looks and sounds great so far, and he has resolved the minor issues with the prototype faceplate. I will try to post pics tonight or tomorrow, but I am already listening to it as a preamp and the initial impression is very favorable. The sound is detailed, rich and full in my desktop setup, and the background / idle state is completely quiet. I am taking the output from my HeadRoom Desktop Amp into the TTVJ FET-A, and then into my HeadRoom Desktop Power Amps, out the Harbeths and into my ears. Because the amp has about 1 hour of burn-in, this will be a good way to log some hours while I am at work. I …

Was looking over at HF and saw this: Styleaudio's Topaz and Emerald DAC/AMP Sale!! - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio :palm::palm:

Audio-gd Compass Impressions, not a review! Gear: Laptop, Foobar and MonkeyMedia, ASIO4all, AD900, HD650, Audio-gd Powe Cable. Hey all Head-Case. First off, nice to see so many of the excellent posters I respected at the other headphone forum here. I wondered where you all had gone, I mean once in a while I'll see a blue moon post, but not enough! I had a wonderful opportunity to be among the first 18 testers to own the newest headphone solution from Audio-gd. For, I feel this is by far the best option for me as a beginner into headphone amps and dedicated DACs. Audio-gd is a small company out of Beijing China, lead by their lead designer, Mr. He Qinghua,…

I've seen a few Cary SLI 80s go for pretty decent prices on audiogon lately. Been thinking about picking one up to use as a headphone amp and to drive a pair of monitors in a secondary rig. Does anyone have experience with it as a headphone amp? Is it good with all phones? Or just low or high impedance phones?

Someone in my country is selling one of these for 1000 euros + shipping in a quite good condition. It has separate power supply (as every Gilmore Reference I guess) with oversized trannie, Blackgates internal Vampire wire and is fully balanced with separate RCA and XLR inputs and also SE and balanced outs with a switch in the back to chose either RCA or XLR, and separated stepped attenuators for each channel. I'd be thankful if anyone could tell me what was the original price for this amp, whether in your opinion it's worth trying it at that used price, and some technical specs, which I haven't found at the Headamp page. Considering I already own a RPX-100 and a H…

ZDT <- This is very similar to the Nautilus amp that he had prototyped but better (Partial Silver Electraprint transformers last time I heard). I think it's a steal at this price versus the price of a new Zana Deux.... anyone on board or considering?

Hi, I have one amp with those and there may be room for improvement: it uses some Elma electrolytic of 4700mF (and 16V rating if memory serves) on each channel life wire. They seem to block around 25V of DC (rough measure before the cap) so it does not seem a good idea to just bypass them (just joking ). I am looking for some advice, there is quite room for alternatives and even 'groups' of caps if someone gives me a good reason to get rid of those electrolytics... Thanks!

I've heard a few Zana's at the meets but the only Beta I heard was Nate's first one......... and meet conditions are, far from optimal, so what do you guys think? Thanks USG

Hi guys. First of all, I'm not trolling! Just curious. I've noticed several threads here that contain a lot of "anger?" towards Ray. I skimmed some of them, but haven't been able to glean anything very meaninful, except about someone's table getting slightly singed by one of his amps, a rumor about a house fire caused by one of his amps, a lot of angry back and forth personal insults, which model of Terminator is superior, etc. Another thing that I find curious is that Ray seems to enjoy a "celebrity" status on Head-Fi, but not here. So why the discrepancy? I'm curious mainly because I've been eyeing one of his amps, and just want to have all relevant information a…

Can someone explain to me what constitutes a discrete op amp? Secondly, does this discrete op amp actually offer better performance than a typical op amp? KG, Nate .... anyone?

OK, so I have had for a long time now issues with some sort of interference in my system which manifests as a background high-pitch noise that is fatiguing after awhile. I have tried many things to assuage the problem because its source has been unknown. Thought it might just be digital harshness, the headphones, etc. Anyway, I got some bendix 2C51 from luvdunhill recently and popped them in to my SDS-XLR (gotta live with what I got ) and when music started there was an intermittent static noise in both tubes. No music, no static. I thought it might be bad tubes. Anyway, this morning, for whatever reason, I decided to cup my hand around the tube (between driver &a…

No bugger excepting that vile, evil, murderous Belgian bastard wanted it when I tried to sell it last year but that worked out fine because a K1000 came into my life and the two of them got on just lovely. With my passion reinvigorated for the AMT though, it can't cut the mustard both ways. Theres the most irritating hum on the right channel. Only with the AMT and I'm buggered if I know why. It's also being pre-amped by the NAD which leads to one sort of complication or another for muting the speakers. The NAD doesn't hum but is too powerful, if I'm not careful with the volume dial I blow my ears off, thus it is that I don't really have an amp that is fit for the purpo…

Hi. This is a $6000 TTVJ tube amp: I'm not gonna say it's arm gnawingly ugly, but even Mr. Takei gets a chuckle at that faceplate. Yet, for some odd reason the headphone cognoscenti lust after it madly. One might start to get the idea that Todd has some kind of wacky function-over-form philosophy. Maybe he should he should start to imitate the Denver business model.

I was reading a lively thread on HF (something about rudi and a new amp) and realized that my knowledge of measurements and most things to do with engineering is sorely lacking. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions about learning about the engineering aspects of amps,etc (ie good design). I am mainly looking for a basic understanding to become a better consumer (or be less of an idiot). Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

See the inside of that new ALO (Amphora) bullshit?

Not a bad deal at all. Seller wants a local pickup. If I was in the Bay Area I would probably pick it up. Any Bay Areas interested? It is on sale on the other site. Seller is located in Sacramento. FS: SinglePower Extreme - Local preferred - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

What do you guys think of a B22 as headphone duty and preamp duty? How do you think feel about a B22 as a preamp? Is it a bad idea?

I just have some perfunctory questions before I plunge for this purchase. Did Craig make any official statements regarding the differences between the new '09 models and the earlier ones? (I'm getting the earlier model # 18.) Similarly are there any revisions between serial numbers? Secondly, is the ZD specially tailored for Senn HD6XX? It seems that most OTL amps are. It's a short list, but any tips right now would really help me submit my final decision. Thx.

Maybe Beefy knows something about these Aussie blokes? Their new Headamp popped up on HF this morning. It looks quite interesting as a potential match with HD800s. It's powered by their own discrete opamps, which they apparently also sell separately. Has anyone had any experience with rolling these?

Hiw good an amp was the original Millet Max that used the BUF634?

I am the recent owner of a DIY tube integrated built by a friend. It uses 2 6SN7s for input, and a single 6BX7 (or 6BL7) for output. Pics: Picasa Web Albums - hagbard - Tube Amp Here's my issue - there is a very slight hum audible with my Grados (I don't notice it with my higher impedance Beyers). I should note that this is the second iteration of this amp from the same builder. The first one had a significant hum (along with occasional buzzing), which the builder explained was caused by the cheap parts he used in too small a chassis (he told me he threw it together in an afternoon with parts he had laying around). This version is much quieter with only the bar…

I'm a bit slow on the uptake, but I just noticed the Balanced Home amp is discontinued. So is the Millett Desktop Hybrid and both Max amps. The Balanced Home was my favorite "all-in-wonder" solution for DAC/amp/preamp. It covered all the bases and did so pretty well. I suggested it to a friend of mine in the antique business (who ended up going with speakers, the cretin.) The Max products were never in my price range, but their existence amused me. Anyone know what HeadRoom has in the works to replace these models? Maybe Tyll can get off Daisy long enough to enlighten us.